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Freedom Fighters: The Ray

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Freedom Fighters: The Ray
Genre
Based onCharacters appearing in DC Comics
Voices of
ComposerDaniel James Chan
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
ProducerCurt Geda
EditorKyle Stafford
Running time6–8 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkCW Seed
ReleaseDecember 8, 2017 (2017-12-08) –
present
Related
Arrowverse

Freedom Fighters: The Ray is an American animated web series developed by Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim. It premiered on December 8, 2017 on The CW's online streaming platform, CW Seed and is based on DC Comics character Ray Terrill / The Ray, a reporter who gains light-based powers after being exposed to a genetic light bomb. The series is partly set in the Arrowverse, the same fictional universe as Arrow, The Flash, Vixen and Legends of Tomorrow, while also taking place on the parallel universe of Earth-X.

Premise

Raymond "Ray" Terrill is a reporter who discovers a genetic light bomb in his investigation of a secret government project attempting to harness the power of light and weaponize it. The bomb goes off, and instead of killing him, gives him light-based powers, and he is recruited to join the Freedom Fighters.[1]

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Arrowverse actors

Main

  • Russell Tovey as Ray Terrill / The Ray: A reporter who gains light-based powers after being exposed to a genetic light bomb and becomes a member of the Freedom Fighters on Earth-X.[1][2] On Earth-1, Terrill works as a public interest lawyer,[3] and gains his powers from his Earth-X counterpart. Tovey voices both the Earth-1 and Earth-X versions of the character.[4][5]
  • Jason Mitchell as John Trujillo / Black Condor: A member of the Freedom Fighters on Earth-X.[6] On Earth-1, he is a co-worker of Terrill's who helps him learn about his new found powers. Mitchell voices both the Earth-1 and Earth-X versions of the character.[7]
  • Dilshad Vadsaria as Jenny Knight / Phantom Lady: A member of the Freedom Fighters.[6] On Earth-1, she is a co-worker of Terrill's. Vadsaria voices both the Earth-1 and Earth-X versions of the character.[7]

Recurring

Guest

Episodes

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
'
1–61–6N/AEthan SpauldingEmilio Ortega Aldrich, Lauren Certo, Marc Guggenheim,
Sarah Hernandez, Elizabeth Kim, Sarah Tarkoff		December 8, 2017 (2017-12-08)

Production

The series was first announced on August 2016 by The CW with a 2017 debut and to air on CW Seed, from executive producers Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim and developed by Blue Ribbon Content.[1][12] It was also announced that the lead character would be gay, and the network was looking for an actor to voice the character with the possibility of appearing in live-action later on.[1] The series was inspired by Grant Morrison's Multiversity comic book series.[13] Guggenheim noted there was "a very specific reason" the series was titled as it was, in order to introduce the Freedom Fighters and Earth-X. He continued, "Morrison came up with an idea we really responded to: The Freedom Fighters are made up of various minorities targeted by Nazis-women, gay men, Jews. We wanted to honor that idea. At the same time, it's an origin story about the Earth-1 iteration of The Ray."[8] Earth-X is a world in the multiverse where the Nazis won World War II and the New Reichsmen rule over present day America.[14] In September 2017, it was revealed that Russell Tovey would be voicing Ray Terrill in the series.[2]

Freedom Fighters: The Ray is also set prior to the events of the 2017 live-action Arrowverse crossover, "Crisis on Earth-X". Guggenheim added that the animated series featured some "continuity mix-ups... [and] inconsistencies",[9] as "Crisis on Earth-X" was conceived after Freedom Fighters was already written and Guggenheim "didn't see eye-to-eye" with fellow crossover executive producer Andrew Kreisberg on how tightly the animated series should tie-in with "Crisis on Earth-X";[9][3] Guggenheim hoped to address these with a comic book. On the series being a prequel to the crossover, Guggenheim revealed that it was not intended to be such, and was originally intended to be released before the crossover. However, once the decision was made to feature The Ray in live-action, it necessitated the casting of the correct actor, which lead to Tovey. Guggenheim explained: At that point, "we could either just continue to go forward as we already were with the animated series with a different voice and a slightly different look to the character of the Ray, or we could take the extra time to have Russell voice the character, do some design alterations, make the Ray's appearance in the animated series line up more with the way Russell actually looks. There was just no way to turn those kind of changes around and release it before the crossover. It was just more important to have Russell's voice in the series than it was to get it out early".[9]

Release

Russell Tovey as the live-action version of The Ray / Ray Terrill.

Freedom Fighters: The Ray premiered on CW Seed on December 8, 2017,[15][16] releasing the first six episodes of the series.[3]

Reception

Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club gave the first three episodes a "B" rating. He felt "the story has an interesting structure, beginning with two episodes showing the dire situation on Earth-X before making a sudden jump across dimensions for the third episode," but noted that it makes "The Ray feel like a supporting character in his own show". Sava praised the conflicts in Ray's personal life "that are largely unexplored in the superhero genre, especially in film and television," with the show showing "how they can quickly add tension and depth to fantastic narratives". Regarding Tovey's performance, Sava said, "Tovey does strong work capturing Ray's anxiety and fear about coming out, and you can hear his disappointment in himself as he tries and fails to embrace his sexuality."[11]

Live-action appearances

Tovey appeared as The Ray in "Crisis on Earth-X" in November 2017, the Arrowverse crossover event between Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. Additional concepts and characters from Freedom Fighters were featured in the crossover.[17][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Roots, Kimberly. "Gay Superhero Show a Go at CW Seed, Arrow-verse Integration Eyed". TVLine. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b c Ausiello, Michael (September 22, 2017). "Arrowverse Crossover: Quantico's Russell Tovey Cast as Gay Superhero". TVLine. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c Mitovich, Matt Webb (December 7, 2017). "Arrow Boss Touts The Ray's Timeless Fight, Explains Crossover 'Continuity'". TVLine. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  4. ^ Episode 1
  5. ^ a b c d Episode 3
  6. ^ a b c d e f Cecchini, Mike (July 21, 2017). "DC's Freedom Fighters: The Ray is a Dark Reflection of CW Multiverse". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on July 23, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Wickline, Dan (December 8, 2017). "Freedom Fighters: The Ray Season 1 Recap – Things Are Just Getting Started". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b c Hogan, John (August 30, 2017). "CW Seed Offers A Ray of Hope with 'Freedom Fighters: The Ray'". TV Insider. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b c d e Damore, Meagan (December 7, 2017). "Freedom Fighters: The Ray: Guggenheim Previews Ray's Earth-X History". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  10. ^ Caron, Natalie (October 17, 2017). "The Flash's Vibe joins Freedom Fighters: The Ray's new CW poster". Syfy Wire. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Sava, Oliver (December 8, 2017). "The Ray gives The CW's new gay hero an animated showcase, but not enough spotlight". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  12. ^ Cecchini, Mike (July 25, 2017). "DC's Freedom Fighters: The Ray Trailer Arrives". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Dornbusch, Jonathan (August 11, 2016). "CW Introducing DC's The Ray in New Animated Series and, Eventually, in Live Action". IGN. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Adams, Tim (July 23, 2017). "The Ray Battles Nazis in First Trailer For Animated Series". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Holbrook, Damian (October 16, 2017). "First Look: 'Freedom Fighters: The Ray' Promo Art". TV Insider. Archived from the original on October 16, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ CW Seed [@cwseed] (December 1, 2017). "Freedom Fighters: #TheRay premieres in ONE WEEK on CW Seed!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 1, 2017 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ Agard, Chancellor (September 22, 2017). "Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends unite for 'Crisis on Earth X' crossover". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
Season 1
  • "Episode 1". Freedom Fighters: The Ray. Season 1. December 8, 2017. CW Seed. 6 minutes
  • "Episode 2". Freedom Fighters: The Ray. Season 1. December 8, 2017. CW Seed. 6 minutes
  • "Episode 3". Freedom Fighters: The Ray. Season 1. December 8, 2017. CW Seed. 8 minutes
  • "Episode 4". Freedom Fighters: The Ray. Season 1. December 8, 2017. CW Seed. 6 minutes
  • "Episode 5". Freedom Fighters: The Ray. Season 1. December 8, 2017. CW Seed. 6 minutes
  • "Episode 6". Freedom Fighters: The Ray. Season 1. December 8, 2017. CW Seed. 6 minutes
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